Rupaul’s Drag Race All Stars 3 diva, Shangela, made her Singapore debut with her brand new show ‘Shangela is Shook’ last year on 12 December at Shine Auditorium.
Otherwise known as D.J. Pierce, Shangela was the only contestant to compete on three separate seasons of the Emmy Award-winning reality series Rupaul’s Drag Race (seasons 2, 3 and All Stars 3).
While she may not have come out of a box during the show, she certainly orchestrated a performance that was worth every dollar spent. After an opening number, she went on joke about her experience in Singapore thus far, which left the crowd in stitches.
The show mainly focused on Shangela’s rundown of all eight episodes of RuPaul’s Drag Race: All-Stars 3. For the uninitiated, Shangela’s acts on the reality TV show got her to the top four. Although she did not win, she took it good stride and used it as material for her self-written stand-up comedy show.
She went through each episode, sharing her personal experiences on the show, whilst indulging the audience in juicy behind-the-scenes happenings. Fans of RuPaul’s Drag Race were constantly entertained by Shangela’s impersonations of her fellow sisters.
Shangela also kept the crowd entertained with acts such as her personal rendition of Uptown Funk – “Uptown Fish” – and a re-enactment of her iconic talent show performance. Her show may have been scripted, but Shangela was never rigid with her sequences. For instance, when a guy in the crowd shouted about how her belongings got stolen during the show, Shangela immediately switched to talk about her burglary instead. Her interaction with the crowd was more intimate as compared to other stand-ups and her ability in switching to different topics without missing a beat is commendable; seeing that this is her first solo stand-up tour.
Throughout the night Shangela made it clear that she is a fan of the show first and a contestant second. It became more apparent with the breakdown of each episode, as she made use of her knowledge of the show and played to her strengths.
Shangela ended the night with a performance of ‘This Is Me’ from The Greatest Showman – a fitting song for her message to the crowd – always be you, no matter what others may say.
Visuals courtesy of AlvieAlive.
